Filming finishes on troubled River Queen feature

Filming of the movie River Queen was wrapped yesterday.

"Everything has gone very well," said publicist Sue May, adding that the film would be released in about a year.

The $13 million-plus production tells the story of a young Irish woman (played by two-time Oscar nominee Samantha Morton) who finds herself with family on both sides of the lines during the European and Maori wars in the 1860s.

The film faced an uphill battle before filming even started, with director Vincent Ward struggling for years to find funding.

Filming began at the end of June at Opotiki, in the Bay of Plenty, before moving to areas in the Wanganui district.

With a script written by New Zealanders Ward and Toa Fraser and a cast including Kiefer Sutherland and Temuera Morrison, expectations were high.

However within a month, Morton was hospitalised with the flu. She recuperated overseas before returning in September to continue filming.

Last month, on his way to a filming session, New Zealand actor Cliff Curtis was in a car accident in Otaki, causing further delays.

Then Ward was fired last month after about half the filming was completed.

Producer Don Reynolds has said Ward was fired because Film Finances Ltd were concerned filming would not be finished by the end of November.

The film's cinematographer, Alun Bollinger, stepped in to be the de facto director in following weeks.

Speculation that the film was cursed arose after a newspaper notice in July warned of impending disaster.

The notice was from a group called the United Chiefs of Aotearoa.

Ms May would not speculate on cast and crew reactions to the completion of filming, nor on whose vision the film had become since Ward's sacking.

- NZPA